Interactions among unrelated species: Granivorous rodents, a parasitic fungus, and a shared prey species

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Abstract
Granivorous rodents and a parasitic fungus in the Sonoran Desert utilize a common prey species, Erodium cicutarium, a desert annual plant. Experimental removal of rodents from field exclosures resulted in significantly higher densities of E. cicutarium. Fungal infection was significantly higher in the absence of rodents, suggesting that, while they do not interact directly, rodents and the fungus affect each other's densities by their use of a common prey species.